The Good, the Bad, the Ugly, the Unexpected and the Completely Unexpected of the 2013 Sugar Bowl

I can’t say I really know what was going on with the Alabama offensive line’s chemistry last night, but for the first time this year I will say that the holes in what they so thinly held together all season long blew open like a screen door in a hurricane. The delicate balance of team work that they held together all year long was nowhere to be seen down on the bayou.

The Good:

I will say thank God above for Derrick Henry and I cannot wait to see more of him next year. He was the one bright spot in the whole game for the Alabama offense. His strength and refusing to be brought down paired with his speed was truly a sight to behold.

The Bad:

I had to wonder if AJ did something to tick off the entire O line? It was almost like they said “to heck with you, we hope you get sacked 8 times tonight!” Cyrus Kouandjio had so many errors that I lost count. He is a good player who wins a lot of awards but one who is always on my radar because of his mistakes. Last night was no different and boy did it cost us yards and points.

The Ugly:

The Crimson Tide sure did not look like a team that had somehow managed to stay number one in the country all year long.

Where was the defense??? “How did Oklahoma even get 45 points?” may be the bigger question here. That’s insane compared to the rest of the year they have had, they simply fell apart in pass defense. Maybe it was because the coaches had them practicing for the run game instead of a passing game?

The Unexpected:

The main reason for the loss was none other than some little known freshman QB by the name of Trevor Knight. He threw four touchdown passes which is almost as much as he had thrown all year! The only time he got shook up was on a blitz but he need not worry because Bama was too loose to keep pressure on him for more than a play or two.

The Completely Unexpected:

Bad coaching. Yep, there, I said it. Clearly all Alabama had on the mind was the Oklahoma run game and they stopped that with not much issue. However, when Knight put the ball in the air, it shocked everyone and I guess the coaches just had no idea what kind of defensive plays to call. The players looked dumbfounded and I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the coaches did too. There was nearly 2 whole minutes left in the game and NO TIME OUTS LEFT. Excuse me?? Who plays like that? Alabama’s defense has always been solid. I think it’s obvious that this coaching staff is going to have to go back to the drawing board before next season and learn how to defend the much dreaded ‘hurry up’ offense, because it is here…it is happening…and it’s kicking our butts!

My heart was so heavy for AJ, that he was ending his career at Alabama like this when he went in to this game with a 36-3 record. He was sacked more times in last night’s game than he has been all year long. Even in his postgame interview he tried to claim responsibility for the loss. It takes a team to lose, not just one guy and his team mate spoke up for him and said as much. It is this very reason that makes me still proud to be an Alabama fan. Heck, probably more proud. You can teach football to anybody, but it takes a special person to come out on the other side of a loss with such class.